Heima was Sigur Ros’s concert film-cum-documentary,
released in cinemas last year, which followed the
band as they toured around remote, sparsely populated
parts of their native Iceland, a needful corrective
after an all-conquering world jaunt. It featured stunning
cinematography of desolate landscapes. The handsomely
packaged DVD version, more a photograph album than
a regular DVD case, features an extra disc of full
song performances, truncated in the film. Hvarf/Heim
is the companion compilation CD of mostly unreleased
songs and a brief acoustic set. Hvarf is
comprised of newly recorded versions of three older
but never before released songs and radically revamped
versions of two previously recorded songs from the
group's pre-breakthrough early days. Heim
is Sigur Ros unplugged, recasting six of their better
known numbers. The benefits of contributions from
the sympathetic all-female string quartet Amina are
evident throughout both discs. While they can occasionally
become bombastically overwrought, and at other times
veer perilously towards the ponderously New Age, at
their best The Rosers rival Mogwai in pursuing the
sublimity of the loud/quiet/loud dynamic.